Forced to rebut the suggestion on Twitter, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if it turned out that a UKIP MEP had been cosying up to ‘extremist’ Wilders — even inviting him to the European Parliament for the showing of a far-right film which intersperses quotes from the Qur’an with footage of terrorist atrocities?

Errr … step forward London MEP Gerard Batten, who — when not sporting his ridiculous suit and tie in party colours (below) — loves nothing more than to heap praise on Wilders. Writing in Freedom Today, Batten gushed:

“he is a brave man trying to defend western civilisation in the face of its own loss of the most basic instinct of self-preservation”

And Farage has the cheek to act surprised when Europe’s far-right come calling.